JEFF EDELSTEIN: Sopranos' star coming to Princeton to talk parenting

Before you have kids, you wonder what kind of parent you’re going to be. One thing I was sure of was I was going to be a fair parent above all else. What’s good for one is good for the other, no questions asked.

And so when my boy (he’s 4) misbehaves, like say talking back to his mother, or not going to sleep at bedtime, or biting me on my scalp, I’ll lightly scold him. Or scream, angrily. Or physically place him in another time zone.

I grasp the Homer Simpson-strangling-Bart thing, I really do. I’m a man, he’s my boy, and there are moments when the combined testosterone overtakes us both. We can both get a little ahead of ourselves. We are men. Hear us roar.

And then … and then there’s my daughter. She recently turned 2 and went from sweet and winsome to not so much sweet or winsome. Bossy, demanding, loud, downright insane.

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So when she misbehaves? When she pulls the same stunts by boy pulled at this age? Different story. My blood pressure doesn’t even creep up one notch. I don’t get mad. I might go to say something to her, but she’ll throw the tiniest little pout in my direction and I’ll pick her up and give her a hug.

So yeah. You might say my parenting style varies from child to child.

Sue me.

Or better yet, see me! (Cheap plug in 3 … 2... 1...)

Tonight, at the Princeton Public Library at 7 p.m., I’ll be hosting a conversation with Steve Schirripa, author of “Big Daddy’s Rules: Raising Daughters is Tougher Than I Look.”

If the name seems kind of familiar, it’s because it should be: Schirripa is probably best known for his role as Robert Baccalieri, Jr. — you know, “Bobby Bacala” — on “The Sopranos.”

So what are we going to talk about? Parenting, obviously, though I’m going to be hard-pressed to not work in a “So what do you think happened at the end of ‘The Sopranos?’” question.

Schirripa is the father of two daughters, and in his book, he details the ups and downs of fatherhood, and how, to him, the most important thing is to be “present” at all times.

In short, Schirripa comes off like an old-time Dad, not there to be best friends with his kids, but there to protect and love and make sure they grow up to not be — his word — “idiots.”

Schirripa doesn’t claim to have all the answers; he just tells stories about his and his friends parenting styles. It’s a good, fun, quick read.

And honestly, I only wish Schirripa had a son. In the book, he talks about what he would do with a boy, namely some roughhousing, give him a ball, and away he goes. I kind of beg to differ, and I’ll bring this up tonight, as raising a boy is probably equally as hard as raising a girl. For starters, his pout isn’t the slightest bit cute or heartbreaking.